Newsletter February 2021

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Coming Up in February 2021 COMMUNITY NURSERY OPEN FOR SALES A partnership for the natural resource (CASH ONLY) management of catchments in the Central QLD Coast Bioregions. 9am-12noon Tuesday, Thursday & the 1st Saturday

CATCHMENT COORDINATOR: of each month- Cath Campbell Next Saturday opening—6th February 2021 Ph.: 0483 811 229 [email protected] PROJECT OFFICER: Alternate Volunteer Event – 18th February– Dingo Chris Barbeler Ph.: 0488 768 567 Beach Littoral Rainforest restoration & planting. [email protected] Northern End of the foreshore parkland.

CONTACT US FOR INFORMATION: 9am– 12pm– See page 2 for detail • Natural Resource Management • Land management Plans • Native WCL 2019-2020-Annual Report is available on our • Environmental weeds website—www. whitsundaylandcare.org.au • Volunteer activities At the Community Nursery & Volunteer Activities in BECOME A VOLUNTEER: Come seed collecting; learn to identify February : native plants; how to propagate them; improve your environment; enjoy the 33 Kelsey Creek Rd Proserpine outdoors in a fun, social setting. Tuesday & Thursday 9am—12.30pm. If you're interested in doing your bit for the environment and socialising For enquiries please Ph. 0483 811 229 or email: with like-minded people, we [email protected] offer coordinated activities on Tuesday & Thursday mornings and more. Contact us! Tuesday Thursday WCL Management Committee: Graham Armstrong, Chair Jacquie Sheils, Secretary 2nd February: Nursery Maintenance 4th: Propagation, Seed processing, Glenda Hodgson, Treasurer & propagation activities Potting, Record keeping etc. at the Dale Mengel nursery. John Casey WRC representative- CR. Gary Simpson 9th: Nursery Maintenance & 11th: Propagation, Seed processing, One Community position vacant propagation activities Potting, Record keeping etc. at the nursery. WCL is a community not-for-profit group, relying on grants & donations. We are a registered charity; donations of 16th: Nursery Maintenance & 18th: Propagation, Seed processing, $2 or more are tax propagation activities Potting, Record keeping etc. at the deductible. To make a nursery. donation please contact Alternate Activity– Dingo Beach– us or Littoral Rainforest planting event. See go to page 2 for details. our 23rd: Nursery Maintenance & 25th: Propagation, Seed processing, propagation activities Potting, Record keeping etc. at the nursery.

WCL receives support from the following organizations: WCL Volunteer Planting Event– Thursday 18th February. We have a received a QLD Government Community Sustainability grant to undertake littoral rainforest restoration at Nelly Bay, Dingo Beach & Hydeaway Bay. We are planting a total of 500 plants at the 3 site. WCL volunteer completed the planting at Nelly Bay just before Christmas in 2020 and now that the rains have arrived we are focusing on the Dingo Beach site. Initial weed control has been undertaken by our staff and now we are up to the planting. On Thursday the 18th February we are offering an volunteer event (alternative to attending the community nursery) to undertake the planting at our Dingo Beach site. Please park your vehicles at the northernmost car park in the foreshore reserve area on Olive St, Dingo Beach. Chris Barbeler, our Project Officer will meet you in a clearing nearby, get you to sign on and take you into the revegetation site, which is approximately 30m from the carpark. Where: Dingo Beach Littoral rainforest site When: Thursday 18th February, 2021 Time: 9am– 12pm . Morning Tea, water refills and sunscreen will be provided. Please wear long sleeves, closed in shoes, a hat and bring your water bottle. Don’t forget your gloves.

Late Addition— REEF CLEAN—March Volunteer Event. WCL has been contracted to undertake marine debris monitoring 4 times during the year. Graham Armstrong will be leading the event Conway Beach—Thursday 4th. From 8 am Wilsons Beach– Sunday 7th . From 10am. Interested helpers can come along just for an hour or for the whole process (estimated 5hrs) All help appreciated. Please wear long sleeves, closed in shoes, a hat

Please contact Graham Armstrong– 0416 658 047 for more details. If you would like to participate. Getting to Know Our Whitsunday Wildlife & Plants Steve Pearson is a local dedicated nature photographer. Steve is a retired QP&WS ranger who spent a large part of his career at Eungella and in the Whitsundays. Assisted by his wife Alison, Steve has accumulated a comprehensive photographic reference of plants and also, the less understood and under-appreciated elements of our region’s ecology such as invertebrates and fungi. To view more of his photos go to – steveandalison1@flickr

This month’s feature plant flowering in our patch at present is the Psychotria bush, Psychotria fitzalanii of family Rubiaceae. It is a local native but is endemic to and occurs naturally in NEQ and CEQ. Psychotria fitzalanii grows in monsoon forest, vine thickets and the drier types of rain forest with an altitudinal range from sea level to 1000 m. There is no definite flowering season and usually after rain periods and as a shrub. The ones in our patch are 2-3 m tall but in ideal conditions and with limited competition can grow into a small . The blades vary quite a bit depending on how good the soil and water supply is for it, some are 10cm long by 3 cm or so wide. Psychotria fitzalanii flowering is a bunch of little white flowers on the end of the Above: Psychotria fitzalanii branch growing tip as in the photos -the Photos: Steve & Alison Pearson inflorescence is called a terminal panicle. It is a slow growth plant, shallow roots, a Above: Psychotria fitzalanii little plant competing in big forest, and its leaf detail fruits are small, about 5mm long when Photos: Steve & Alison developed and slow growing, really relying heavily on a good rainy season. In drier times the fruits are often eaten and seldom make it to maturity. Our local Psychotria fitzalanii is a food plant for leaf eating caterpillars of the big daytime clear-wing coffee bee hawkmoth Cephonodes sp. of the family Sphingidae. Above: Psychotria fitzalanii An amazing big moth with clear panicle. wings that is mostly a day time flyer, Below: Flower Detail buzzing like a humming bird as it Photos: Steve & Alison Pearson hovers while it sucks nectar from flowers but it also flies at night, mainly to lay its eggs in peace safe from daytime predators. If we had humming birds here I reckon the coffee bee hawkmoth would be called the humming bird moth. Our local Cephonodes hawkmoth is a Above:Above: & Coffee Below Bee Coffee hawmoth Bee little over 3 cm long, that is more than half HawkmothPhoto: Steve & Alison Pearson the size of the Helena bee hummingbird Photo: Steve &Alison Pearson Mellisuga helenae, a native to Cuba, the smallest humming bird only 5cm long. The Cephonodes moth is bigger than Bumble Bees and because its caterpillars also love feasting on leaves of plantation coffee it is considered a pest to coffee growers who are the ones responsible for having named it the coffee bee hawkmoth. It is active like a big bumble bee, flying fast, wings beating so quickly they hum. As they hover and suck nectar from flowers like a humming bird with its long tongue, really buzzing about as though it is high on caffeine all day. I wonder is there some sort of Caffeine in psychotria. At night it does land briefly to lays its eggs on the host plants. The caterpillars grow quite large so love a lot of plant leaves and can strip the leaves of a Psychotria fitzalanii bush. Imagine if the Cephonodes hawkmoth breed up, big numbers of leaf eating grubs could do lots of eating, especially in a coffee plantation where there are lots and lots of leaves. Continued over page

Continued: The leaves are important to plants as they are the part of the plant that performs photosynthesis to help the plant grow and flower and reproduce, no leaves - no plant growth or growth, a natural bonsai system. Being a grand dad I like making fun for the grand kids and other kids -hoping to get them interested in nature, so I call the Cephonodes moth grubs Dacshundapillars, because they are long caterpillars that raise their head end if disturbed making them look just like a long sausage dog ( Dacshund ) grub ( caterpillar ), a fun part of nature to remember. I am not sure if Psychotria fitzalanii has great importance, a small bush in a big forest, but is another of our local plants, part of the great diversity here and is also a host food plant for the caterpillars of a local moth which is part of the greater food chain of our special Whitsundays area. It could be that the combination of species growing together here does not occur anywhere else on planet earth. Psychotria fitzalanii is another of our local plants with Fitzalan as part of its name and I find it amazing that in our Whitsundays tourist focus there is no botanical garden with fitzalan plants and a little of the history for botanical interested tourists. A professor in Townsville Uni has researched quite a lot of local history and Eugene Fitzalan was included. I finally found a reference to his work on the name Eugene Fitzalan (1830-1911), an Irish born plant collector and gardener who came to in about 1849. He was appointed as a botanical collector on the schooner Spitfire’s expedition in 1860 to investigate the estuary of the Burdekin River and later collected for . In 1861 he was a pioneer settler in the newly established township of Bowen, from where he made collecting expeditions to Mount Dryander, Mount Elliot (Townsville), Cairns, the Daintree River and Cooktown. Between these trips he Above: “Cephonodes “Dacshundapillar” established and managed a seed and plant nursery Photo: Steve & Alison Pearson business in Bowen.

In 1886 he moved to Cairns, where he was active in the initial development of the Cairns Botanic Gardens. He collected Psychotria fitzalanii at Port Molle, on Pelican Island, while on the Burdekin expedition, and it was described by George Bentham in volume 3 of Flora Australiensis in 1867. It had earlier been collected by Banks and Solander in 1770 at the Endeavour River. So the Psychotria bush, Psychotria fitzalanii of family Rubiaceae is a local native but is endemic to Queensland and occurs naturally only in NEQ and CEQ. We have it here as part of the diversity of life here in the special Whitsundays, maybe some bird will find a ripe fruit and drop the seed in your patch and increase the diversity in your special habitat, hope you have a great 2021.

Right: Psychotria fitzalanii flower detail Photo: Steve &Alison Pearson Getting to Know Our Whitsunday Wildlife & Plants Steve Pearson is a local dedicated nature photographer. Steve is a retired QP&WS ranger who spent a large part of his career at Eungella and in the Whitsundays. Assisted by his wife Alison, Steve has accumulated a comprehensive photographic reference of plants and also, the less understood and under-appreciated elements of our region’s ecology such as invertebrates and fungi. To view more of his photos go to – steveandalison1@flickr

While checking out the Psychotria bush with its flowers I noticed movement on the stem of the flower panicle and looked closer to see it was a small salticidae jumping spider. It was the one I had seen and photographed from time to time and sent to the specialists for ID, but each time was told it is unknown, except for the ones I send in, so here is another special Whitsunday endemic spider. When I found it on the Psychotria bush in the rockshelf last week, I sent photos of this one again to specialists but, same as every time before, was told it is still unnamed and they can not even agree on which it belongs too- 3 different ones have been suggested. Nobody has described it, so it is unnamed and only known from our patch. Have you been out and about checking out how special our Whitsundays or your local patch is? What is out there waiting for you to find? Quite a few times I have seen our little hairy Halloween face jumper spiders roaming the rock shelf area on the ground among leaf Above: “ Hairy Halloween Jumper litter- hunting, climbing the bare rock face, climbing stems of small spider shrubs in the rock shelf area and now this latest one was on the Photo: Steve & Alison Pearson terminal panicle twig of the Psychotria bush near the flowers. Possibly chasing insects attracted to the flowers. A close look at this hairy little jumping spider from all angles might provide a discovery -an unusual face like pattern on its rear end, like eyes looking behind. To me this wee little spider appears to have a spooky Halloween face on its butt. Imagine some predator sneaking up behind it and jumping up only to be confronted with a Halloween face. I find it interesting how so many insects and spiders have patterns that look like faces, often the main feature is the eyes, as if it is their self protective way of saying - I am watching you - I know you are there. This reminds me of one of the times I was in the highlands of PNG, back in 1983. I was on Mt Bosavi and stayed with a fellow that had cleared that airstrip in the jungle and then developed the Mougulu Mission with school and hospital etc. Tom was chatting Above: “ Hairy Halloween:” Jumper about one of his friends that supervised a work team clearing Spider with it Halloween face on the rear landing strips for MAF small airplanes. He said his friend had an Photo: Steve & Alison Pearson experience that whenever he had to go away for awhile he used to put a glass eye on a post and tell the workers there was an eye on them and they kept working unsupervised but eventually one of the workers was smart enough to come up with a scheme on getting a break, he went round to the back of the glass eye and snuck up behind it and put his hat over it, the hero of all the other workers, now able to have a break. Anyhow, this local Salticidae spider with no species name or genus is only little and almost nothing is known about it except it is here and possibly nowhere else on planet earth, just in our Psychotria patch of rockshelf rainforest. While I am here I will try to look after our patch, its home !!! So do I call it the psychotria patch spider or Halloween face spider or SALTY SID, short for Salticidae?

Anyhow no one is likely to be bitten by it, but as usual, if anybody does come across one and gets bitten it will be a real shallow bite -so if there is pain, an ice pack may be used to relieve the pain of shallow bites. If there is evidence of an allergic reaction, medical attention should be sought. Above: “ Hairy Halloween Jumper spider I hope you can have your own patch and have many happy and safe Photo: Steve & Alison Pearson explorations. Pest Hall of Fame- Scientific name- Sphagneticola trilobata Common Name- Singapore daisy Native to tropical America, Singapore daisy is a vigorous ground cover that spreads rapidly and out-competes native plants. In Queensland, it also invades lawns, irrigated areas, and areas around drains. Singapore daisy is a restricted invasive plant under the Biosecurity Act 2014. Restricted invasive plants • It must not be given away, sold, or released into the environment without a permit. • The Act requires everyone to take all reasonable and practical steps to minimise the risks associated with invasive plants and animals under their control. This is called a general biosecurity obligation (GBO). • At a local level, each local government must have a biosecurity plan that covers invasive plants and animals in its area. This plan may include actions to be taken on certain species. Some of these actions may be required under local laws. Contact your local government for more information.

Description: Vigorous ground cover or low-climbing plant. Leaves are lush, glossy green, usually 3-lobed, 4-18cm long, 1.5-8cm wide, in pairs along stem. Flowers are yellow to orange-yellow, daisy-like, 2cm wide, on short stalks above leaves. Seeds are elongated, brown, 4-5mm long. Habitat: Found in gardens, parks, bushland, disturbed areas, along roadsides and footpaths. Distribution: Found in South East Queensland and coastal areas of northern and Central Queensland. Life cycle: Flowers year-round, mostly from spring to autumn. Impacts: Environmental. Spreads rapidly and smothers seedlings, ferns and shrubs. Invades environmental areas. How it is spread: Spreads mainly by cuttings from slashing and pruning. Prevention: Don’t plant it and remove what you have in your garden. As Singapore daisy likes to establish in disturbed areas, pre plan revegetation of the area you are clearing. Take extra care when mowing or slashing around areas where Singapore daisy is planted so small fragments are not spread to other locations. Controls: Physical control. Hand-pull and dig up runners. Smother with black plastic & “cook for at least a week. Dispose of waste carefully, as smallest cutting can regrow. Repeat hand pulling/ smothering will need to be done as it regrows from the nodes. Herbicide control: Herbicides are effective. There are no herbicide Above: Singapore Daisy– flowers, habits products specifically registered for the control of Singapore daisy in & leaves Queensland. However, a permit held by the Department of Photos: Christine Peterson Agriculture and Fisheries allows people generally to use some herbicide products to control Singapore daisy as an environmental weed in various situations . Situation: Native pastures, rights-of-way, commercial and industrial areas, home gardens. Herbicide: Metsulfuron-methyl Rate: 600 g/L (e.g. Nufarm Associate) 10 g per 100 L water plus wetting agent Registration Status: APVMA PER11463 (permit expires 30/06/2023) Comments: Spray thoroughly to wet all foliage, but not to cause run-off Minimise contact with desirable species Only use products registered for Singapore daisy.

Biological control: No known biological control agents. Further information: https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/farms-fishing-forestry/agriculture/land-management/health- pests-weeds-diseases/weeds-diseases/invasive-plants/restricted/singapore-daisy

Getting to Know Our Whitsunday Wildlife & Plants– Look what the rain brought out.

Selenocosmia crassipes (syn. Phlogius crassipes) also known as the Queensland whistling tarantula or unfairly named bird–eating Spider. The tarantula group make a fine hissing sound– hence their common name– whistling spiders. The bird eating spider name is incorrectly applied as it is a reference to the South American Bird spider– its young are fluffy like a bird chick. The QLD variety rarely eats birds. Two groups occur in the warmer parts of Australia, although not found in the south east from Gladstone. Australia has seven described species but a number are still to be named. Spiders with a thick first leg occur in east coastal Queensland and near Darwin belong to the genera Phlogius (originally called Selenocosmia but that genus occur only from New Guinea to the north and east and Coremiocnemis. These spiders are found in rainforests and gullies or other sheltered cooler spots in open forests. Some to make "nests" by silk-lining existing holes and expanding them slightly. The second group (Selenotholus) have the first legs only as thick as the back legs or thinner, as in Selenotypus plumipes. These spiders have not been found in rainforest but flourish in the dry open forests and deserts. The spiders make open burrows up to 2 metres long but about 1 metre deep. Tarantulas can be quite aggressive if mishandled. Their bite is quickly fatal to dogs and cats, but only one report of serious illness from a bite to a human has occurred. Identification They are large to very large grey or brown spiders that are very hairy with two finger-like spinnerets at the end of the body. Thick hair pads on their legs and "feet" allow these spiders to easily climb glass or smooth plastic walls. Unlike the tarantulas of other countries, they are rather drab coloured. Conservation Up to 10,000 tarantulas are estimated to be taken from the wild each year (presumably both legally and illegally) and mostly from Queensland. Clearly, this rate of "harvest" is unsustainable and alternatives need to be sought to preserve these spiders in their natural habitats. In some cases, collectors are using their spiders for "captive breeding" and at least for the fast-growing bigger species, Phlogius crassipes, that is the best solution. Further studies on Australian tarantula species continue but are crippled by limited interest in supporting that kind of research, which when published may in fact endanger them. The one below was photographed locally– but we won’t say where. So if you see them don’t harm them, maybe report your sighting to the QLD Museum.

Source: https: //www.qm.qld.gov.au/Find+out+about/Animals+of+Queensland/Spiders/ Primitive+Spiders+Infraorder+Mygalomorphae/Tarantula+or+Whistling+Spiders

Above: QLD Whistling spider—probably a female escaping the rain. Photo: Leigh Donkers

INTERESTING WEB SITES: https://www.eucalyptaustralia.org.au/ Native Animals, Insects, Birds: http://sgaptownsville.org.au/ www.whitsundaylandcare.org.au www.facebook.com.au/sgapmackay http://www.wildlife.org.au/magazine/ Wetlands http://www.aussiebee.com.au http://wetlandinfo.ehp.qld.gov.au/wetlands/ecology/ www. birdsinbackyards .net components/flora/mangroves/mangrove-moreton.html www.australianmuseum.net.au/reptiles Feral Animals: [email protected] http://birdlife.org.au/locations/birdlife-mackay/activities- https://alumni.uq.edu.au/cane-toad-baits mac Feral plants: Native plants: www.weeds.org.au http://ausgrass2.myspecies.info/content/oplismenus www.environment.gov.au ›Biodiversity ›Invasive species https://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/rfk/ › weeds WCL Community Nursery– Always Lagerstroemia archeriana Needs Seeds Lophostemon confertus Brush Box Lophostemon grandiflorus Nthn Swamp Mahogany The WCL Nursery is very keen to source Lysiphyllum hookeri Hookers Bauhinia endemic seed so please keep an eye on your Macaranga tanarius Macaranga flowering native trees, shrubs & grasses for the Melaleuca dealbata Blue Tea Tree volunteer nursery. Some of the species we need Melaleuca leucadendra are: Melaleuca viminalis Weeping Bottle Brush Abutilon auritum Melicope elleryana Corkwood, Euodia Abutilon albescens pauciflorum var. pauciflorum Acacia aulacocarpa Micromelum minutum Native Lime Berry Acacia leptocarpa Omphalea celata Acacia leptostachya Pandanus sp. Acacia simsii Alphitonia excelsa Planchonia careya Cocky Apple Alphitonia petriei Ptychosperma elegans Solitaire palm Antidesma parviflorum Phyllanthus novae-hollandiae Aphananthe philippinensis Peanut Tree Archontophoenix alexandrae Alexander Palm Syzygium australe River cherry Allocasuarina torulosa Black she-oak Tabernaemontana orientalis Allocasuarina luehmannii Timonius timon Tim Tam Tree Aidia racemosa Archer Cherry Trema tomentosa var. aspera Peach-leafed Poison Atalaya rigida Veiny Whitewood Bush Breynia oblongifolia Coffee Bush Trema orientalis Cajanus reticulatus Native Pigeon Pea Vachellia bidwillii (WAS Acacia bidwillii) Corkwood Carallia brachiata Freshwater Vitex trifolia Vitex Casuarina cunninghamiana River oak ramiflorus Native Olive Cordia dichotoma Guidelines for seed collecting : Cordia subcordata Sea Trumpet Corymbia clarksoniana • Only collect seed from your own property or Corymbia intermedia Pink Bloodwood with written permission Corymbia tessellaris Morton Bay Ash • Source plants must have grown from seed from Corymbia erythrophloia Red Bloodwwod the Whitsunday Region Cryptocarya hypospodia Large leafed Laurel • Collect ripe, mature seed & no more than 10% Cupaniopsis anacardioides Tuckeroo of the seed from any one plant compacta • Collect from several parts of the plant, mainly Diospyros geminata the middle & upper branches Diospyros hebecarpa • Use paper bags (not plastic ) to store the seed Dysoxylum gaudichaudianum & keep them in a cool place Elaeocarpus grandis Blue Quandang • Label the bag with the species, location, date Eucalyptus crebra Narrow-leafed Ironbark and your name. Not sure of your plant Eucalyptus platyphylla identification? Include a stem with some leaves Eucalyptus exserta QLD Peppermint & /or take a photo. Eucalyptus tereticornis QLD Blue Gum

Euroschinus falcatus Ribbonwood You can drop seed off at the nursery on Ficus racemosa Cluster fig Tuesday or Thursday mornings, or at Hymenosporum flavum Native frangipani Reef Catchments Office Indigofera pratensis 45 Main St Proserpine, or Ixora timorense call 0483 811 229. Ganophyllum falcatum Scaly Ash

You can make a tax deductable donation to the Whitsunday Catchment Landcare Fund at any time. Just go to http://www.givenow.com.au/whitsundaycatchmentlandcare All donors will receive a receipt from Givenow at the time of the do- If you would like to receive this e-newsletter please email [email protected] with your request.

Disclaimer: Information in this newsletter is offered as a guide only and while every care is taken to ensure its accuracy, Whitsunday Catchment Landcare does not invite reliance upon it, nor accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused by actions based on it. Thank You Everyone! Thank you to so many of you who have generously and kindly donated your container refunds to WCL. To date January 2020 to Dec. 2020) we have had $ 175.50 donated . Your contributions are allocated to the WCL Public Fund which allows WCL to take on various projects for the ongoing education of our members and the wider community. Please find below our Containers for Change ID number to conveniently cut off and include in your bags. Anything Environmental who manage the local container exchange have moved to a QR Code– please find the new WCL ID below. Thank You again!